Rapid-response thermoelectric generator



April 4, 1961 M. N. FORDE RAPID-RESPONSE THERMOELECTRIC GENERATOR Eiled Dec. 18, 1957 INVENTOR.

Miiza/z A! Wards i W JJQGENT strips 10 and 11 'maybe made of other metals, or may be made of suitable non-metallic materials.

u: Umted States tent ice 78527 a a p Patei'lterl;Apr.4,1961- 1 2 r In accordance with the invention, the strips 10 and 1 are so joined or fusedtogether and shaped as to con-1 2,978,527 stitute a novel and improved junction, indicated at 12, characterized by a number of important advantages. In g gg i figk g 5 forming the junction 12, a relatively large end area 13 i of the strip may be offset laterally from the remainder, Milton N. Forde, Woodbridge, Connl, assignor to Lewis and a large area of the strip 11' offset laterally, such Engineering mp y, Naugatuck, C0111! p offset end portions being joined as by welding or fusingfi h 0f Cmmectlcllt e them together in any suitable manner, to cause the fac- Filed Dec. 18 1957, sen 704,225 10 ing surfaces thereof to be intimately engaged with each other to the exclusion of scale, foreign matter-or the zclaimslike which would interfere with a thermoelectric effect.

In addition to the large surface or area of contact or engagement, the end portions 13 and 14 are seen to- This invention relates to thermocouples or junction 5 have appreciable thickness, in this case the same thickgenerators of the thermoelectric type. ness as the remainder-of the strips 10 and 11, and the With theadvent of jet and other type engines for airlower extremities of the end portions are shaved or borne objects, wherein very high operating temperatures tapered, so as to form a sharp, common edge 16 which are encountered, and wherein extremely fast speeds are is located at and which defines the fused surfaces of the involved, it becomes increasingly important to employ 20 said end portions. equipment which will provide accurate and rapid re- I have found that by so constructing and constituting a sponse to changes in the high temperatures. thermoelectric junction there is obtained an important "Heretofore, temperature-recording and other temperaand much more rapid response than is possible with the ture-responsive equipment has employed thermoelectric usual, prior type of thermocouples, and I attribute this generators or thermocouples comprising wires of dissirnrapid response in the main to the provision of the sharpilar materials twisted and/or welded together, strips of ened edge 16. Moreover, a thermocouple having such a dissimilar metals having welded or otherwise joined juncjunction may have an extremely long, useful life while tures, etc. still exhibiting such rapid response, by virtue of the rela- I have found that these prior thermocouples, while sattively large areas 'of the portions 13 and 14, which are isfactori-ly accurate and reliable for conditions which engaged and fused together, together with the appre-' as not change 'r'apidly,'lose their effectiveness and u'seciable thickness of .such portions. When the thermo- ,fu'lness when the rate of change exceeds certain limits. couple is subj'ectedto high temperatures, the sharpened The above drawback and disadvantage of prior thermoedge 16 may gradually wear away, but the sharpness couples is obviated by the present invention, and acthereof will always be maintained, and the operativeness cordingly one object of the invention is to provide a of the thermocouple will not be impaired since there is novel and improved thermoelectric generator or thermoappreciable reserve junction material available to permit couple which has an appreciably more rapid response such wearing away without disrupting or destroying the characteristic. junction. I attribute the retention of the sharpened edge A further object of the invention is to provide an imduring the wearing away process to the increased hardproved thermocouple as above characterized, which is ness of the metals at the fused surfaces thereof. Thereaccurate in its output even when responding at such infore, since the sharpened edge 16 will not tend to becreased rate. come rounded or blunt, but instead will remain sharp A feature of the invention resides in the provision of during the wearing away of the junction portions, the a novel and improved thermocouple having the above rapid response characteristic is retained while at the same advantages and which is nevertheless extremely simple time the couple has a long and useful life. These charin constru tion and e onomical m fab i t acteristics and advantages, as just stated above, will also Another feature resides in the provision of a couple be found in greater'or lesser extent, in modifications of of the above type, which has very low resistance. the invention to be described below.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a Referling further 1, the ps 10 and 11 y novel .and improved thermocouple as above set forth, be held in spaced, insulated relation to each other by which has a relatively-long, useful life. Su table spacing washers 18, which may be of mica or Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear. Other Suitable eria d terminal screws 20 may be In the drawings accompanying this specification, simiprovided on the upper extremities of the strips 10 and Mr characters of reference indicate corresponding parts for the P p of attaching leadswherever possible in the several views in which; Another embodiment Of the invention, wherein much Figure 1 is a perspective view of an improved thermolarger fused or junction areas are provided to efiect a couple made in accordance with the invention. desirable, lowered resistance of the thermocouple, is

Fig. 2 is an axial sectional view of a different type of illustrated in Figs- 2 and Hel'e the thennocouple thermocouple made in accordance with the invention. comprises members 22 and 23 in the form of dished,

Fi 3 i an i l seetional i of yet another type disk-like bodies or plates. While both the members 22, of thermocouple embodying th i ti 23 are shown as dished, one need not be, if this is de- Fig, 4 is a tran rse s ti l vi t k on li sired. The members 22 and 23 are provided with flat 4-4 of Fig, 2, peripheral portions or flanges 25 and 26 arranged to en- Referring first to Fig. 1, the improved thermocouple gage each other so as to constitute the thermoelectric illustrated therein comprises two members 10 and 11 in j nction. The flanges 25 and 26 may be welded, fused, the form of elongate flat strips which may, for example, or otherwise suitably joined, t Said flanges having be constituted of dissimilar metals. For example, the sharpened peripheral edges 27 and 28 respectively, prostrip 10 may be of Chromel, while the strip 11 may be viding an annular sharp edge 30 disposed at thejunction of AlumeL' It will be understood, of course, that the of the fused surfaces of the disks. A tubular support 32 is secured to the member 22 and carries an insulating disk 33 through which a conductor 34 extends, said conductor being joined to the lower disk 23. The larger peripheral contacting portions 25 and 26 in this form of the invention provide a desirable, lowered junction resistance.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 3, wherein cupped disk-like members 36 and 37 have their peripheral portions 38 and 39 joined and fused together, such portions having a sharp peripheral edge 40 to provide the rapid response characteristic. The disk 36 is carried by a supporting tube 42 through which a conductor 43 extends, the latter being secured to the disk 37.

It will be readily understood from the foregoing that I have provided a novel thermocouple and junctiontherefor which is characterized by relatively large areas of contact or fused surfaces, and by appreciable thickness of the members backing up such surfaces, together with a sharpened juncture extremity by which there is obtained a rapid response characteristic and also an appreciably long useful life even though the sharpened edge wears away under conditions of high temperatures. Due to the construction which I have provided, the sharpened edge will remain as such and will not become rounded or blunt during such wearing away, thereby to preserve the rapid response characteristic of the thermocouple. Moreover, I have found that such rapid response is obtained even though there exists a relatively large area constituting the fused surfaces of the members, and despite the appreciable thickness of those portions of the members which are fused together.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. A rapid response thermocouple comprising two plates disposed broadside to each other and adapted to be exposed to heat, said plates being of dissimilar materials and having outer, peripheral, mutually contacting portions of commensurate thickness which are fused together, the contacting and fused surfaces of said portions being integral with the inner portions of the plates and said contacting portions having tapered edges terminating in a long, sharp, common peripheral edge located at the said fused surfaces; electrical connector means connected to the said plates, said connector means comprising a coaxial conductor structure extending laterally in one direction from the plates, one plate having a centrally disposed opening and the other plate having a solid, imperforate central portion, said conductor structure including an outer tube joined to the edge portions of said opening and further including an inner conductor passing through the opening, said inner conductor being secured to the solid central portion of the other plate.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, in which at least one of said plates has a dished formation, thereby to space the central portion of said one plate from the central portion of the other plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,286,429 Shindel Dec. 3, 1918 1,561,593 Brown Nov. 17, 1925 2,187,949 Noble June 23, 1940 2,372,506 Montz Mar. 27, 1945 2,480,404 Findley et a1. Aug. 30, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 132,132 Great Britain Sept. 9, 1919 1,004,962 France Dec. 5, 1951 

